Cardinal Opens Pac-12 Tournament with Win

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Playing in its first game at the inaugural Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, No. 3 Stanford (38-14) came from behind to defeat Arizona State (25-31) 6-3 on Wednesday from Scottsdale Stadium.
 
With the win, Stanford extended its win streak to 13 games.
 
Junior Brock Jones had the big bit for the Cardinal – connecting for a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to hand Stanford a 4-3 advantage.
 
The home run was Jones' 17th of the year and extended his streak of games with a home run to six. The native of Fresno, Calif. has homered in seven of the last eight games overall, launching eight home runs over the span.
 
Sophomore Drew Bowser added insurance in the bottom of the eighth inning, belting a two-run homer of his own for his ninth round-tripper of the season.
 
Bowser finished the game 2 for 4 with three RBIs after driving in a run in the sixth inning to push the tally to 3-2 in favor of Arizona State to that point.
 
Braden Montgomery, Tommy Troy and Adam Crampton also finished with multiple hits – led by Crampton's 3 for 4 day out of the ninth spot in the order.
 
Trailing 1-0 in the fifth after a pair of errors allowed ASU to get on the board first in the top of the inning, Troy drove a pitch to the wall in center field for a triple. Eddie Park delivered the game-tying single one play later.
 
The Sun Devils responded with two runs in the top of the sixth to reclaim a 3-1 lead, but Bowser's RBI-single in the sixth set the table for Jones' go-ahead blast in the seventh as the Cardinal got to the Arizona State bullpen.
 
Freshman Ty Uber got the start for Stanford, tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings before handing the ball to sophomore Drew Dowd. The left-hander pitched the next 2 1/3 innings, surrendering three runs (two earned), before passing the baton to Ryan Bruno. Bruno allowed two hits and walked two while striking out one over 2 1/3 scoreless innings of work. The hard-throwing lefty eventually earned the victory after Stanford's bats took the lead, moving his record to 4-1 on the season.
 
Junior Quinn Mathews polished off the win, retiring the side in the ninth, including inducing a big double-play ball after the first two batters reached to record his sixth save of the year.
 
The double play was one of two turned by the Cardinal in the victory.
 
Kyle Luckham got the start for ASU and pitched well, allowing just two runs on seven hits and two walks with seven strikeouts over the first six innings. Blake Pivaroff was saddled with the loss after surrendering the two-run homer to Jones in the seventh. The right-hander dropped to 1-3 with the decision.
 
The top-seeded Cardinal will advance to play Arizona on Thursday at 4:45 p.m. The Wildcats defeated Oregon in the first game of the tournament on Wednesday.